The proportion of councillors who are female rose to 24 per cent in 2011 from 14 per cent in 2000.

Sounds good. But of the 14 opportunities for co-option in the NI Assembly between 2007 and 2012 2010 “to replace MLAs who had resigned or died, including to three seats previously held by women” the parties “decided in every one of these fourteen instances that a man should fill the vacancy”.

Sounds not so good.

In the 2011 Assembly election, fewer women stood as candidates than 2007.

Local politician – and in particular, local women politicians – are very unsure about the use of quotas, preferring to be chosen on merit not gender.

Without a major intervention, it seems unlikely that 50:50 will be reached anytime soon. Bronagh Hinds explains:

However, at the current rate of progress it would take sixteen election cycles, about sixty-five years, for women to become 50 per cent of MLAs, and thirteen elections, spanning fifty-two years, to reach gender balance in councils.

Alan Meban. Normally to be found blogging over at Alan in Belfast where you’ll find an irregular set of postings, weaving an intricate pattern around a diverse set of subjects. Comment on cinema, books, technology and the occasional rant about life. On Slugger, the posts will mainly be about political events and processes. Tweets as @alaninbelfast.